Chapter 2: Unknown people
Now the date was April 9, 2014. So much has happened to Tara. After the whole Sam thing, Tara decided to never love again. And besides relationships, Tara had more to worry about. The apocalypse had begun.
"Hi" said the strange, tall man at Tara's apartment door. The man was about six foot three, longer hair and a massive beard. Someone who had clearly been on the road a while.
"Drop your weapons." said Lily, Tara's older sister through a crack in the door.
Tara wanted nothing but to protect what she had left of her family. Her father, sister, and niece were her life. So, Tara quickly and violently opened the door, and pointed a loaded pistol at the unidentified man.
The man willingly set his weapons and rucksack down. Lily invited him in, where her and Tara decided to question him to learn a little bit more about him.
"Do you plan on staying in the apartments? asked Lily
"..." No response from the unknown man.
"Do you plan on staying or not?" Lily said much louder than before.
Again, no response.
"Holy shit with the no talking." said Tara clearly more upset than Lily. Tara's sister attempted to scold her for swearing around Megan, but Tara continued talking.
"My sister asked you a question."
"Just for the night..." The man said almost inaudible.
"You see this? Tara asked as she slid her loaded pistol across the table towards him. "This is a fully loaded standard issue Smith & Wesson... I'm Atlanta City Police, and I have enough artillery in here to kill you everyday for the next ten years."
Their unexpected visitor just sat there, letting all of Tara and Lily's words sink in. Tara knew she was being a little rude, but she didn't trust anyone, and wanted to ensure her family's safety. It was clear that the unknown man understood Tara and Lily's rules.
"I swear to Christ, if you touch me or my family, I will put you down." Tara said just to make sure the man was sure of her loyalty to her family. "Got it?"
"Got it..." said the man.
"Then we're cool." said Tara, "Pound it." She put up her fist waiting for a fist bump in return. The man gave Tara a little bump with his fist and lowered his hand.
"You got a name?" asked Tara just before Lily was about to show him his room.
"Brian... Brian Heriot."
After that, Tara went to her bedroom. She decided to read her favorite book, which was To Kill a Mockingbird. She had probably read it 15 times just since the outbreak, but it was the only book she had that she enjoyed. Everyone had gone to sleep, so it was very quiet in the apartment. Of course, every night they were used to falling asleep to the sound of the undead growling and gurgling. So that was the only sound Tara heard.
Tara looked her watch. It was 11:30 PM, which very well could have been wrong, but it was the only time she knew. She heard some yelling out her window, which was also common. She reached over and grabbed her pistol just in case they decided to cause trouble. Judging from the voices, Tara guessed there was about seven people in the group.
She could hear the sounds of blades sinking into those monster's head. This intrigued her. Tara got out of bed and walked to her window. She saw a man in a sheriff's outfit with a beard, a beautiful tall woman with shorter dark hair, a teen in a sheriff's hat (possibly the the bearded man's son?), an African American woman with a katana, and more people too far away to distinguish details. Tara could see some of those things creeping up silently behind them.
Tara decided that the group could be trusted. She saw one the walkers lunge at a man in the back. He was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap.
"Look out behind you!" yell Tara from her window involuntarily.
They all looked up at Tara's window and saw her pointing to the back of the group. They all turned around at the sound of a shout.
"Glenn!" yelled the one woman Tara saw earlier with the shorter dark hair, and the tall boots with pink laces.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Four shots were fired by various members of the group towards the small herd of walkers surrounding the man in the back, who Tara assumed was Glenn. The man in the back had clearly been bit, but wasn't dead. The walkers attacking him were killed and he got up and ran. But those shots attracted walkers from all throughout the town. They were being closed in.
"Hey! Run to the door down here! I'll let you in!" yelled Tara from her window. The group sprinted towards the apartment doors, and Tara rushed downstairs to let them in.